Film Festivals Give Limelight to Crowdfunded Cinema

Festival juries and the people align their movie choices as independent films funded on Wishberry get due recognition

Two independent movies - Azmaish and Bhasmasur , crowdfunded Rs. 20 lakhs and Rs. 5 lakhs, respectively from a total of 192 people. The filmmakers chose India's largest crowdfunding platform, Wishberry to raise this amount. Both these films have been gaining attention in the International and Indian film festival circuits in the last few months.

Azmaish is a documentary by Sahiba Sumar that stars two women - Indian actress, Kalki Koechlin and Pakistani filmmaker, Sabiha Sumar. The women go on a journey across India and Pakistan to understand why people in both the countries are turning to religious extremism for answers. The film had its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September amongst the likes of Aaron Sorkin's, Molly's Game. The documentary has already had the honour of having its World Premiere at the prestigious Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland, and is being screened at the BFI London Film Festival and the India Today Conclave. "I think crowdfunding is a great way of directly interacting with the audience and asking them to be a part of the project," said Kalki Koechlin, the award-winning actress and protagonist, when asked about Azmaish , the documentary that raised a whopping Rs. 20 lakhs via crowdfunding for post-production.

Bhasmasur, an independent feature film made by Nishil Sheth shot entirely in rural Rajasthan, is the story of a father and a son, and their donkey. This movie, made by fresh talent right out of film school, needed Rs. 5 lakhs to reach the finish line. 72 funders came out in support of the movie and opted to receive various interesting rewards like original scripts as memorabilia and production workshops in return for their money. The film itself then went on to be selected to feature in the India Story section of the popular Mumbai Film Festival that had films like Hansal Mehta's, Omerta in its roster.

Anshulika Dubey, COO and Co-founder, Wishberry says, "It is an exciting time for independent filmmakers. The festival recognition of crowdfunded cinema legitimizes the process in a huge way. Never before have people been able to claim that they were involved with a film that won a National Award, but that time has arrived."

About Wishberry:

Wishberry is a new way to bring creative and innovative ideas to life. It is a rewards-based crowdfunding website for creative entrepreneurs in India, founded by Priyanka Agarwal and Anshulika Dubey. The company has helped 19,000 backers fund Rs. 11 crores to bring 400 creative ideas to life. Creative artists/entrepreneurs use Wishberry to raise funds for their projects from their fans and followers. People who fund these projects are called 'backers' and in return for their funding, they get exclusive rewards related to the project, such as access to the premiere of the film they funded or a chance to work with the project creators such as filmmakers and musicians. The company's mission is to discover and empower creative ideas originating out of India and to put India on the creative map of the world. You can visit the company website, http://www.wishberry.in, to check out live campaigns, read more on them or as the company tagline says to 'Fund Yourself'.